DONG Energy has awarded a multi-million pound contract to the UK's leading engineering support services company Babcock for the construction of a world first offshore reactive compensation station for the Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm.

Hornsea Project One, when operational, will have a capacity of up to 1.2 gigawatts which will make it the world's largest offshore wind farm. It will produce enough clean green electricity to power well over 1 million UK homes.

The reactive compensation station, which will be constructed in Babcock's Rosyth facilities, is a vital part of transmitting to shore the clean electricity produced by the offshore wind farm, enabling the high voltage AC system to work with cable lengths longer than those previously used for offshore wind. The reactive compensation station will be located between the offshore wind farm and shore.

Work to construct the reactive compensation station will start this summer and is set to be complete in 2018.

"DONG Energy is absolutely committed to investing in the UK and we are delighted to be working with Babcock on this world first structure which will play an important part of the world's largest offshore wind farm.

"As well as generating clean, green energy for well over one million UK homes, Hornsea Project One is also providing a real boost to the UK supply chain. This contract with Babcock is another example of this."

"Babcock is delighted to be working with DONG Energy on the construction of the world's first offshore reactive compensation station at our facilities in Rosyth, Fife. This contract will sustain around 100 jobs within our operation here.

"Our team's commitment to engineering excellence and focus on safe and effective delivery for our customers makes Babcock the ideal partner for major projects such as Hornsea Project One.

"This is a significant development for the UK's renewables sector and Babcock is delighted to be playing its part in it."

Hornsea Project One is located 120 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast – further than the distance from Leeds to Liverpool. It will span a huge area of approximately 407 square kilometres, which is over five times the size of the city of Hull. It is expected to be operational in 2020.

About DONG Energy: DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe, headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,700 ambitious employees, including over 600 in the UK, are engaged in developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms; generating power and heat from our power stations; providing energy to residential and business customers on a daily basis; and producing oil and gas. Group revenue was DKK 71bn (EUR 9.5bn) in 2015. For further information, see www.dongenergy.co.uk or follow us @DONGEnergyUK on Twitter.

About Babcock:

Babcock International Group is the UK's market-leading engineering support services company, delivering complex and critical asset support both in the UK and overseas. With revenue of circa £4.5 billion in 2015 and an order book of circa £20 billion, we manage vital assets within a number of industry sectors including energy, defence, emergency services, transport, telecommunications and education. The unparalleled expertise of our 34,000 global employees means that – whether designing, building, operating, managing, or maintaining vital assets - Babcock is a partner that can be trusted to deliver.